This is Book I of Dream of the Red Chamber (simplified Chinese: ???; traditional Chinese: ???; pinyin: Hóng Lóu Mèng; Wade–Giles: Hung Lou Meng), composed by Cao Xueqin, it is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It was composed sometime in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and is generally acknowledged to be the pinnacle of classical Chinese novels. "Redology" is the field of study devoted exclusively to this work.

The novel's name may alternatively be translated as Red Chamber Dream or A Dream of Red Mansions, and it is sometimes referred to by another name, The Story of the Stone (simplified Chinese: ???; traditional Chinese: ???; pinyin: Shítóu jì; literally "Record of the Stone").

Red Chamber is believed to be semi-autobiographical, mirroring the fortunes of author Cao Xueqin's own family. As the author details in the first chapter, it is intended to be a memorial to the women he knew in his youth: friends, relatives and servants. The novel is remarkable not only for its huge cast of characters and psychological scope, but also for its precise and detailed observation of the life and social structures typical of 18th-century Chinese aristocracy.

Dream of the Red Chamber (also knows as A Dream of Red Mansions), you discover the period when China was governed by Manchu aristocrats who created social turbulence for selfish, political purposes. Tosca Hsueh-Chin's description of the four families (Chia, Shih, Wang, and Hsueh) is deeply rooted in the reality of the time. The main characters of the novel, Chia Pao-yu and Lin Tai-yu, are typical of young people everywhere; they desperately want to be free to marry whomever they wish.